Family & Community Alternative Education
Massachusetts Proprietary Schools

Palmer Institute of Massage and Bodywork, Inc.
Bulletin #1

On May 1, 2009 the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) received notice from Diane Palmer of the Palmer Institute of Massage and Bodywork, Inc. that the school ceased operating on April 30, 3009.

If you have a student loan, contact your lender immediately (contact information should be on your loan documents) to inform them of the school's closure and that you wish to request a "non-interest bearing administrative forbearance" of your loan until such time as your claim with the school is settled. This means that the loan company will suspend accrual of any interest and any loan payments until your claim has been settled. Please note that you may have to periodically renew this request until your claim is settled. If the lender needs proof of the school's closure, please provide them with a copy of this bulletin or provide them with the following URL: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ops/closed/bulletin/default.html

If you are receiving this notice by mail, you have been identified by the school as an individual who is eligible to file a claim for restitution. All claim forms must be signed in ink and the original signatures provided to the Department. To file a claim, please download the following documents from our website http://www.doe.mass.edu/ops/students/restitution_claim.html.

1. Claim Procedures;
2. Claim Checklist;
3. Claim for Restitution Form;
4. Claim Worksheet;
5. W - 9 Taxpayer Identification Form;
6. Commonwealth Terms and Conditions Form.

The deadline for Claims for Restitution is Friday, June 5, 2009.

For more information about who is eligible to file a claim and for information on the stages of the claims process, please see the Procedures for Filing A Claim For Restitution memo available on our website.

If the Department requires information from individual claimants, such communications will occur via mail or email. Claimants may track the progress of their school's claims by viewing the updated bulletins available on our website at Claim Status Chart. Please note that the information will be updated when, and only when, there is new information available. If there is no new information for a period of time, this simply means that that stage of the claims process is not yet complete.

The Department greatly appreciates your help in keeping the volume of phone calls we receive to a minimum by checking these bulletins. If you have questions, please email us at proprietaryschools@doe.mass.edu We thank you for your patience in this matter.